Move to pump water from Lake Lonsdale causes public concern

Lake Lonsdale Action Group has called for more public awareness on moves to pump water from Lake Lonsdale.

Ray Howard.

Wimmera Catchment Management Authority met with Lake Lonsdale Action Group on Monday to discuss a move by GWM Water to remove 200 megalitres from Lake Lonsdale.

More than 500 worried residents have taken to a Facebook group and voiced their concerns about the decision.

GWM Water resources manager Andrew Barton said the decision to remove 200 megalitres from Lake Lonsdale is a strategy to balance rising water levels.

“The last couple of months has seen the lake go from empty to full very quickly,” Mr Barton said. “We have been pumping water out of Lake Lonsdale because it has become too full. We have a maximum operating level at the lake so anything below that level we may store and anything above it we must legally take out or risk the reservoir spilling water.”